Philip lange



*(No Model.)

P. LANGE.' INGANDESGENT LAMP. soGKBT.

WITNESSES:

I mvENroR, A

PHILIFLANGE. nfrmdfvfv? Patented Aug. 12,1890v UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

PHILIP LANGE, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TQ THE VEST- 4 INGHOUSE ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

INCANDESCEINT-LAVIP SOCKET.

SPECFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 434,153, dated August 12, 1890.

Application filed October 3l, 1888. Serial No. 289,621. (No model.)

To @ZZ 'whom t may concern.-

- Be it known that I, PHILIP LANGE, a citizen of the United States, residin gin Pittsburg,

in the county of Allegheny and State of Penn- 5 Sylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Key-Sockets'for Incandescent Electric Lamps, (Case No. 241,) of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to the class of de- Io vices employed for holding incandescent electric lamps and for completing and interrupting the circuit-connections through the same. The object of the invention is to simplify and improve the mechanical construction of the device, and thereby lessen its cost and increase its durability. t

The invention involves numerous details of construction, which will be described in conneetion. with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of the key-socket. Fig. 2 is a similar View,`a portion of the shell being removed; Fig. 3, a section, showing the circuit-controller in detail. Fig. 4 is a section through the line 4 4, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail, showing the plan of securing the base-plate and outer shell to the base.

Referring to the figures, A represents a cupshaped base adapted to be secured to a fixture of any suitable character. In this base thereis set a base-plate B of non-conducting material. -The plate B is secured in position by means of two screws l) b, which enter corresponding lugs D extending from the bottom of the base A parallel with its sides. These lugs may be conveniently formed upon al ring b4, which surrounds the portion a, Which screws into the iixture. The portion a. may be soldered or screwed or otherwise 4o fastened into the cup-shaped portion of the base. A screw a serves to bind the base upon the fixture. The screws b are designed to project over shoulders b2 b2 in the plate B, and thus hold it in position. The bottom of the base-plate B is constructed with a recess or groove b3, which fits over the portion of the lugs h b lying along` the bot-tom of the cup. This prevents the plate from being turned in the cup. The screws l) pass freely through the flange of the base and'screwinto the lugs, and by means of them the outer shell, presently to be described, may be held firmly between the flange of the base and the lugs.

A second plate C, of insulating material, is supported from the base plate B. This is secured in position parallel with the base-plate by two brackets or arms c c2, secured at their respective ends to the base-plate and the plate C. An inner shell D is mounted upon the opposite side of the plate C. This is designed 6o to receive the neck of the lamp. It is fastened to the plate C by the screws d d, which serve also to fasten the ends of the arms c c2. The screws therefore do not hold in the body of the plate, but in the ends of the arms themselves, which, being of metal, are not affected by heat.

It should be noticed, also, that the screws holding the lower ends of the arms c c2 screw into the ends of the arms instead of holdingin the plateB itself. This is a matter 7o of importance, since heretofore considerable difficulty has been experienced byreason ofthe shrinkage of the non-conducting material 1n the key sockets when heated by the burnlng of the lamp, and as it has been customary to have the screws enter and hold in the insulating material, they were liable to become loosened after the socket had been in use a considerable time.

The shell D is preferably separated from 8o the plate C by an intervening layer of mica e, the purpose of which will presently appear.

Two arms f project through the center of the plate C. These are designed to form the central contact for the lamp. They are held upon a plate f which is fastened at the bottom of the plate C by screws passing from the upper side of the plate C into a binding-plate F. This binding-plate-is designed to receive one of the conductors, which is led from the 9o fixture through the base A. The other conductor is led to a similar binding-plate F2, which is secured in like manner to the plate C. This binding-plate serves also to hold in position a yielding contact point or arm H for closingylthe connections of an electric circuit. The mica plate e, before referred to,

serves to securely insulate the shell D from the heads of the screws h h holding the binding-plates.

A second contact-plate H2 is secured to the base-plate B. This is preferably formed IOO of two or more rings of metal stamped out. They are fastened in position at one side by the screws which hold the arm c against the plate IS, and the opposite side is caused to bend upward toward the contact-plate II. It will be seen that the contact-plate H2 is at all times in electrical connection through the arm c with the shell D. \Vhen the lamp is placed in the socket, one of its terminals is connected with the inner contact f in a man ner well understood and its other terminal with the shell D. To complete the connections, therefore, between the shell and the conductor fastened to the binding-plate F2, it is only necessary to bridge across from the contact ll tothe contact 112. This is done by a movable piece k of conducting material. This is carried at the end of a shaft 7c', which is provided with a key k2 for turning it. The shaft k is held in bearings formed in the arms c cg. The key 7a2 itself prevents the shaft from moving longitudinally in one direction, and a washer k3, intervening` between the movable piece k and the arm c?, prevents it from being withdrawn. 'Ihe movable piece is held upon the shaft by a pin 7.35, as shown, and it is constructed so that it can move a slight distance in either direction independently of the shaft for the purpose of giving a more sudden and quick action when the circuit is opened by turning it. For this purpose the piece is constructed with a transverse slot 7s* of greater width than the width of the pin 7J. The ends of the movable piece are preferably indented, as shown, so that a projection L upon the plate H will enter it and hold it in the proper position when the circuit is closed. The key is movable in either direction, so that either end of the piece 7c is liable to come in contact with the plate. l-Sy making the contact-plate H2 of two or more thicknesses of metal independent of each other, greater elasticity is combined with the requisite pressure.

It will be noticed that by means of the two plates B and C all the working parts of the key-socket are thoroughly insulated from the other sections, sothat there is no danger of false contacts being made. The entire working parts of the socket and the inner shell D are inclosed in an outer shell M, which lits over the shell D and the plates B and C and extends into the bottom of the cup A. The

shell M is provided with a slot In for receiving the shaft 7c of the key, and two small slots m and m2, which pass over the screws I) l) bctween the outer shell and the lugs b b. Then the screws are tightened, they pinch the shell between the fiange of the base A and the lugs h', holding it securely in position.

Vhen the socket is being applied to the {ixture, both the shell and the working parts are removed by loosening the screws b. The bottom is then screwed upon the fixture, the plate B is inserted, and the screws tightened suliiciently to hold it in place. After the wire connections have been made the outer shell is slipped into position and fastened by tightening the screws b. the number of parts which the workman is obliged to handle in putting the socket into position is reduced toa minimum. NVhen the neck of the lamp is inserted intoj the sleeve D, the arms d d are sprung outward, and as they might chance to be pressed into contact with the outer shell, a ring of insulating material is inserted in the shell M, as shown at m3. This preferably tits into a bead m4 near the end of the shell, and it may be sprung into position by being cut open and temporarily compressed, its ends lapping past each other and then allowed to expand.

I claim as my inventionl. In a key-socket, the combination, with the base, of the base-plate contained therein, screws passing through the sides of the base holding said base-plate in position, lugs carried by the base through which said screws pass, and a recess in the base-plate fitting over the lugs.

2. In a keysocket, the combination, with the base, of the base-plate contained therein, screws passing through the sides of the base holding said base-plate in position, lugs earried by the base through which said screws pass, and a shell extending between the lugs and the base and held in position by pressure.

In a key-socket, a circuit-closi ng block, two contacts therefor, and a revolving shaft carrying the block continuously movable in either direction to open and close the circuit.

it. The combination, in an electric lamp socket, of the bindingplates for receiving the conductors, screwsholding said binding-pla tes in position, the plate of non-conducting material upon which the binding-posts are |nount ed, the inner shell secured to the opposite side olf the plate, and the sheet of mica or other non conducting substance intervening be tween said shell and the plate and covering the heads of said screws, whereby they are insulated from the shell.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto sub scribed my name this 29th dayot October, A. D. 1888.

PHILIP LANGE.

Witnesses:

CHARLES A. TERRY, C. C. XVOLFE.

It will be seen thus that y IDO IIO 

